5 Best Free Appointment Scheduling Software for 2018

Free appointment scheduling software lets service businesses schedule and track appointments, accept online bookings from clients, send appointment reminders, block off internal meeting times, and accept credit card deposits or prepayments for scheduled services. We reviewed the most popular free appointment scheduling software options that cover a full range of features for small businesses.

How We Evaluated Free Appointment Scheduling Software

There are many appointment scheduling options on the market to suit all types of service providers, from consultants and tutors to salons and fitness pros. Many offer free, lightweight versions of a larger, comprehensive paid service; some provide the free version with limited features and others deliver all features in a free version but limit the number of staff logins or appointments you can book per month.

For this guide, we evaluated the best free appointment scheduling software options based on the services available for free and any user or appointment limitations. Each of our top picks provides a robust set of scheduling features, including:

Consolidated calendar management in a central dashboard

Client access to online booking features

Mobile-friendly for both clients and service providers

Confirmations and reminders sent via email

A standalone online calendar if you don’t have a website

Integrations with popular website platforms if you have a website

Track customer information, appointment histories and sales reports

Setting time as unavailable, whether because of internal meetings or other scheduling conflicts

We also found that several of the best free appointment scheduling software options go above and beyond with free access to features, including:

Because of these variations, choosing the best free appointment scheduling software for your business comes down to two factors: the scheduling features you need and the number of staff member schedules you need to track. Read on to see how each of our top picks meets your service business’s unique scheduling needs.

We recommend Square Appointments as the best free appointment scheduling software because it delivers the most scheduling, sales and overall business management features for free. No other appointment scheduling software package on our list matches everything that Square Appointments delivers for zero cost.

The only limitation that Square Appointments has is the free version is limited to one user. However, if you’re a solopreneur, Square gives you every tool you need to manage your client schedule and grow your business, all in one streamlined, easy-to-manage package — for free.

Square Appointments and Square POS sales app run on smartphones, computers and tablets, plus you can add a low-cost register to manage in-store checkout needs.

Square Appointments Pricing

Monthly Price

Free

$50

$90

Custom

Users

1

2-5

6-10

10+

Appointments per Month

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Features

All

All

All

All

Credit Card Processing

2.75%

2.5% + 10 cents per transaction

Square Appointments is free with one user login, but it gives you access to all features. This beats out Acuity Scheduling, which drastically limits features in its free version. Square Appointments also lets you book unlimited appointments, unlike 10to8’s free version, which limits the number of appointments you can book per month.

Square is also the only free appointment scheduling software on our list that provides built-in credit card processing at competitive rates. These rates drop in the paid version.

Square’s multi-user prices are higher than others on this list, but you need to remember that Square also delivers a complete business management package in its free point-of-sale (POS) system. See all that Square offers in our guide to using Square to run your business.

Square Appointments Features

Since Square Appointments is part of Square’s free, comprehensive sales, inventory and business management POS system, there are too many features to list here. We cover the scheduling-specific features below.

Free Feature

Details

Staff Logins

✔

Free for one user

Slot Blocking

✔

Block unavailable times on your calendar

Email Reminders

✔

Customize emails and set up auto sends

Text Reminders

✔

Customize text/SMS messages and set up auto sends

Accept Payments

✔

Online, in-store and mobile credit card processing

Mobile-friendly

✔

Mobile-friendly for users and clients

Website Integrations

✔

Insert schedule and calendars into top website platforms

Calendar Sync

✔

Sync with Google Calendar

Track Client History

✔

Track appointment and sales histories with notes

Sell Products

✔

Sell products, service packages and gift certificates online and in-store

Since Square Appointments integrates with Square’s industry-leading small business POS system seamlessly, it gives you many sales and management tools beyond core scheduling features. Square’s built-in credit card processing is one key ingredient that lets you require deposits or prepayments at the time of booking. You can even set time limits on cancellation refunds and presell products along with services during the booking process.

Square Appointments booking features are top-notch, and you get them all. Email and text reminders are key to preventing no-shows, and Square includes these for free, unlike others on this list. Plus, there’s no limitation to the number of appointments you can schedule, again, unlike others on this list. Clients can book appointments quickly via computer, tablet or smartphone on Square Appointments’ intuitive, mobile-friendly screens. You can accept or decline appointments in real time, and track every detail of your schedule on your own device:

Square’s mobile-friendly platform makes it easy to manage your bookings and entire business on the go.

Square Appointments Customer Support

Square Appointments is the only free appointment scheduling service on our list that offers phone support. You can reach Square via phone Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pacific time.

What’s Missing from Square Appointments

There’s little missing from Square Appointments. It delivers the most features for free compared to others on this list. The one major difference between Square Appointments and our other top picks is payment processing options. If you want to accept credit card payments using Square Appointments, you must use Square to process your credit cards. You don’t have the option to connect your own payment processor like you can with others on this list. Also, Square’s free plan is limited to a single user. Others in our list let you manage multiple users on a free plan.

However, Square’s simple, fully integrated payment solution and low credit card processing rates are a primary reason users go with Square in the first place. Therefore, for most small and solo service providers, this isn’t a negative at all.

Shedul is the newcomer in the field of free appointment scheduling software solutions and is currently completely free to use. Shedul’s website does state that paid plans will be rolled out as features are added, but users signing up now will be grandfathered in for free lifetime access.

Shedul offers a nice set of scheduling features for free. Most notably, you can track multiple staff schedules, which is a feature that costs more with Square Appointments, 10to8 and Acuity. You can also book unlimited appointments for each staff member, which is nice if you’re managing a busy multistaff operation.

Shedul lets you track multiple staff schedules for free.

Shedul Pricing

Monthly Price

Free

Users

Unlimited

Appointments per Month

Unlimited

Features

All

Credit Card Processing

Not built-in and no integrations to payment providers

Shedul is completely free to use and has no limitations per users or number of appointments.

Shedul Features

Most of Shedul’s features are in line with others on our list, with the major exception of accepting payments. Currently, Shedul does not support payments at all, unlike Square Appointments and others on our list. Other than that, Shedul delivers a lot for a zero price tag.

Free Feature

Details

Staff Logins

✔

Supports multiple staff schedules in one dashboard

Slot Blocking

✔

Block unavailable times on your calendar

Email Reminders

✔

Customize emails and set up auto sends

Text Reminders

✔

Customize text/SMS messages and set up auto sends

Accept Payments

✕

Mobile-friendly

✔

Mobile-friendly for users and clients

Website Integrations

✔

Insert booking buttons or widgets to your website

Calendar Sync

✕

Track Client History

✔

Track appointment and sales histories

Sell Products

✔

Tracks sales for products, service packages and gift certificates

Reviews and Marketing

✕

Like Square Appointments, Shedul combines scheduling tools with a POS system so you can track appointments along with sales and even product inventory in a complete business management package. This POS functionality isn’t as robust in our other top picks.

Shedul’s notable free booking features include both email and text reminders, unlike Setmore and Acuity, along with multiple staff schedules, unlike Square Appointments, 10to8 and Acuity. However, all of our top picks offer some level of calendar sync and most provide payment integration and customer reviews at the free level. These are features that you don’t get with Shedul.

Shedul Customer Support

Shedul offers an easy-to-navigate knowledge base, user forum Q&A and email support. Shedul doesn’t list business hours, and there is no listed response guarantee on email requests. However, overall user reviews are favorable and few customer service complaints have been reported.

What’s Missing from Shedul

Shedul is missing two key features that other free appointment scheduling software delivers. These are:

Integrations for payment processing

Appointment sync with major calendars like Google Calendar, iCalendar and Outlook

Shedul’s website reports that payment processing integration is in the works but there’s no word on calendar sync. If these shortcomings are low on your list of must-have items but you definitely need low-cost multistaff appointment scheduling, Shedul might be the right fit for you.

Earlier, we mentioned that certain free appointment scheduling software options give you access to all features, but limit your users or the number of appointments that you can book each month. That’s how 10to8 works. It provides an excellent set of appointment scheduling and built-in marketing management tools for free, but you’re limited to just two users and only 100 appointments per month on the free plan.

In contrast, the other four on this list support unlimited appointments on free plans. However, only Shedul offers both unlimited appointments and unlimited users for free.

10to8 has a clean, mobile-friendly interface for both users and clients.

10to8 Pricing

Like the other top picks on our list except for Shedul, 10to8 has a free plan plus several paid plans. The most notable difference between 10to8 and out other picks is that 10to8 limits the number of appointments that you can book per plan, and your free plan is limited to just 100 appointments per month. However, you can have two users at the free level, plus you can access all scheduling features.

10to8 Features

10to8 delivers a solid set of features that rivals our other top picks. The most notable standouts are integrations with many calendar systems, built-in email, survey and social media promotion tools, plus a handy instant chat feature. This is a nice perk that adds a personal touch to your services.

10to8 is really designed for the marketing-focused service provider and makes it very easy to create bookable services, promote them on websites and via other promotional means, and let clients book online at their convenience. A real standout feature of 10to8 is a live chat feature that allows clients to reach you if they have questions while booking.

A unique feature in 10to8 is an instant chat feature, which personalizes the user experience.

Its marketing tools include online surveys that you can send for pre-appointment information gathering or as follow-up satisfaction surveys, built-in email marketing and a booking button integration for your Facebook page. Plus, you can send clients both email and text reminders on the free plan.

10to8 supports online payments via Stripe and PayPal, so you can collect deposits or prepayments for services at the time of booking. However, 10to8 doesn’t track inventory for physical products, so you can’t sell products alongside your services. You also don’t get a complete POS system with the option to add a register for in-store sales like you get with Square Appointments.

10to8 Customer Support

Online support is available in the free version, and you’ll find a convenient help button on each page of the 10to8 platform. 10to8 has an instant chat feature for questions, plus an online knowledge base with tutorials, articles, videos and access to a community forum. 10to8 does offer phone support but only for paid plans.

What’s Missing from 10to8

As an appointment scheduling tool, 10to8 checks every box. However, as an all-in-one business management tool, it’s missing the POS feature. This keeps 10to8 from being the complete business management tool that Square Appointments and, to a lesser degree, Shedul deliver. Also, 100 appointments per month translate to about five per day in a normal five-day work week. That may be more than enough for some service providers like attorneys and lawn care pros. However, 100 appointments can fall far short of what busy salon and personal fitness pros need each month.

Setmore offers features that closely match others on our list, with one exception. You can create class bookings and allow your customers to reserve spots online, even in the free version. Setmore’s free version also supports up to 20 staff logins. However, the free level doesn’t support payment integration. For that, you need to jump up to the paid plan. If you need online booking for classes and can collect payments another way, Setmore’s free plan truly delivers.

Setmore’s clean calendar interface works across both web and mobile platforms.

Setmore Pricing

Setmore Features

Setmore’s features closely align with the other top picks on our list. However, a few key features aren’t included in the free plan. Things like online credit card payments, text reminders and calendar sync are reserved for the paid plan. However, Setmore’s free plan supports up to 20 staff calendars plus offers class bookings, which can tip the scales for some service providers.

Setmore is a very slick free appointment scheduling solution that’s easy to set up and features very intuitive staff calendar and client booking screens. Its impressive class scheduling feature allows you to set up a class with attendance limits, open the class to online registration and market it via Facebook, Instagram and your online portal or website. Once filled, registration automatically closes. This is a nifty feature in a free online scheduling program and is something that our other top picks don’t deliver in such an easy-to-use manner.

Setmore gives you a standalone web bookings page, or you can integrate it into your website and Facebook page.

The biggest drawback to Setmore is the free feature doesn’t support online credit card payments, so you need an alternative way to get paid for services and class registrations. Both Square Appointments and 10to8 have Setmore beat here. However, you can record your cash or check payments in Setmore as well as track payment histories and see what clients have outstanding charges. The free version also supports email confirmations and notification but text messaging requires the paid plan.

Some of these features, such as online payments, text reminders and calendar sync are included with Square Appointments and 10to8. Others, like more than 20 staff logins, can be had in Shedul. If these features don’t top your list, but online registration for classes does, then Setmore’s free appointment scheduling software might be the perfect fit.

Acuity Scheduling offers free appointment scheduling software that’s a very basic version of its robust paid scheduling platform. Acuity’s free plan doesn’t deliver all of the features that our other top picks provide in their free versions. You can’t accept online payments, send reminders or sync with calendars in the free plan. If you just need a way for your clients to schedule appointments on your calendar at their convenience, however, Acuity is a very simple and effective solution.

Acuity Scheduling Pricing

Acuity Scheduling’s free version is quite basic, but you do get unlimited appointments, so that beats 10to8. Beyond that, you really need a paid plan to unlock Acuity’s impressive online schedule management features. Learn all that Acuity’s paid plans offer in our review of top-rated online appointment scheduling software.

Acuity Scheduling Features

Acuity Scheduling’s free version doesn’t add many bells and whistles as it’s primarily an online calendar that your clients can access and use to book time-based on your availability. However, you do get unlimited appointments, and you can also create unlimited services for your clients to select when booking.

Free Feature

Details

Staff Logins

✔

Supports one user

Slot Blocking

✔

Block unavailable times on your calendar

Email Reminders

✕

Requires paid version

Text Reminders

✕

Requires paid version

Accept Payments

✕

Requires paid version

Mobile-friendly

✔

Mobile-friendly for users and clients

Website Integrations

✕

Requires paid version

Calendar Sync

✕

Requires paid version

Track Client History

✔

Track appointment and booking history

Sell Products

✕

No inventory features

Reviews and Marketing

✕

Requires paid version

Acuity Scheduling’s free version lets you list services online and allows your clients to select services and reserve appointment times with you. Acuity lets you can create as many services as you wish — you can even list details and pricing and assign time blocks to each. You can set your availability and block times when you don’t want to book appointments. With that information entered in Acuity, your clients are able to access a scheduling page that lists the services and time slots available. All clients need to do is select a service and click on a time.

Once your client books an appointment, the booked slot shows up on your Acuity Scheduling calendar. That’s all there is to it.

Unlike the other top picks on our list, you can’t integrate your scheduling page into your website or social media pages in the free plan. However, Acuity provides a link to your online scheduling page that you can insert into customer emails and social posts and even create a booking link on your website. So, even though integrations aren’t included, there’s a way to get the word out to your clients.

You can insert links to Acuity’s scheduling page into client email, social posts and your website.

Acuity Scheduling Support

Acuity Scheduling does not provide phone support, but Acuity does provide a help button on every page, which links to a knowledge base that covers any common issues you may encounter. The other main customer support channel is email support, which is very responsive.

What’s Missing from Acuity Scheduling

Compared to the other top picks on our list, Acuity Scheduling’s single-user free version is very simplistic and feature-poor. You have no online payments, no built-in email or text reminders for clients and no direct scheduler integrations with social media sites or websites. However, you can create an online scheduling page, populate it with services, block your available and unavailable times, and forward a link to your clients in less than 10 minutes. If a no-frills free appointment scheduling portal is what you need, Acuity Scheduling might be the right solution.

The Bottom Line

The best free appointment scheduling software for you depends on your needs. A solo fitness trainer has different appointment scheduling demands than a 10-chair salon. Overall, Square Appointments is our top choice for most small businesses and solopreneurs since you get a terrific online scheduling platform with unlimited appointments, built-in payment processing and plenty of client contact options for free. Plus, you can manage every other aspect of your growing business with Square’s industry-leading POS system.

Do you use paid or free appointment scheduling software yet or are you checking out the option or looking for a change? We’d love to hear your input on these or other providers in the comments section below.

About the Author

Krista Fabregas is a staff writer at Fit Small Business and editor of the Ecommerce Section. Krista launched her first ecommerce site in 2001, and soon grew to operate two niche B2B and B2C sites, a 10K square foot warehouse, and staff of nine. Combined, her sites sold more than $1.5M annually for several years. Krista now shares her hands-on experience with others looking to expand into online sales. When not helping small business owners launch and grow efficient ecommerce operations, Krista enjoys writing fiction and nonfiction and riding horses and motorcycles in her hometown of Houston.

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Comments (6)Disclaimer: Reviews on FitSmallBusiness.com are the product of independent research by our writers, researchers, and editorial team. User reviews and comments are contributions from independent users not affiliated with FitSmallBusiness.com's editorial team. Banks, issuers, credit card companies, and other product & service providers are not responsible for any content posted on FitSmallBusiness.com. As such, they do not endorse or guarantee any posted comments or reviews.Post Your Comment

Elsabe, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We strive to update our buyers’ guides annually to bring you the most updated/best small business software options. Have you checked out our reviews page? You can find real user feedback of most of the best and most popular software for small business. Cheers! Laura, Staff Writer

i tried accessing Square appointments. Their info page kind of works (some images aren’t loading), but I can’t find a way to access it through my account. I went to the Play Store to download the app and it shows it as being unreleased, but still allows you to install the app. When the app is install it just sits on the screen that says “Loading Square Appointments 100%”. The concept looks cool and your review seems credible, but hoping I can get access to it. I wonder, is it because i’m not in the u.s.?

Hi Regina, You are correct. Here’s what I found on Square’s blog: “Square Appointments is only available in the United States and Canada at this time. We’re looking to bring online scheduling software to other markets.” We apologize for any inconvenience. As a US-based start-up ourselves, most of the articles we write are targeted toward business owners in the US. But perhaps when we next update this article we can look into options for global business owners as well. Best of luck to you and your business. Laura, Staff Writer

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